Telematics units within mobile vehicles provide subscribers with connectivity to a telematics service provider (TSP). The TSP, in turn, provides connected subscribers with an array of services ranging from emergency call handling and stolen vehicle recovery to diagnostics monitoring and turn-by-turn navigation. Upon activation, the telematics unit provides a subscriber with a wide variety of telematics services rendered by a variety of networked providers.
Historically, communications connections for telematics services (providing navigation instructions, emergency service request assistance, etc.) are initiated by a user selecting an appropriate one of multiple physical hardware pushbuttons mounted in a vicinity of a vehicle rear-view mirror or overhead center console. Given the importance of remaining available after the vehicle is involved in an accident, a back-up power source (battery) is provided for the purpose of powering the telematics unit, including the hardware pushbuttons and associated telematics audio input/output equipment.
Providers of telematics systems face the challenge of ensuring continuous, easy, non-obtrusive user access to the aforementioned telematics service initiation pushbuttons.